A few newbie questions - with Data!

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
plaqueman
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by plaqueman » Tue Sep 30, 2025 12:28 pm

I will give your suggestions a try. I think my sleep hygine is decent, but I also agree, my brain is adjusting to the CPAP. The mask does not bother me, but the pressure does give me a bit of a feeling of shortness of breath once I wake up. The pressure (or perhaps the apnea event) will wake me up an hour or so after going to sleep, then the pressure is usually in the 9-12 range, and I find it a bit difficult to exhale against it. I feel a bit short of breath. Later in the night if I happen to wake up with the pressure higher, I am usually able to go back to sleep pretty quickly, and feel less bothered by it. It seems I get used to it as the night goes on, but the first time it is a little disconcerting. Thank you for your insight. I have watched a couple of sleep HQ videos now, and think I know enought to adjust settings and tweak things appropriately now also.

Even with all that, I am not getting up to use the bathroom, I feel rested, and my AHI is down to 6-7 from near 60. It is good, and getting better!

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Dog Slobber
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by Dog Slobber » Tue Sep 30, 2025 2:22 pm

I agree with granny. Increase min to 9. You machine is spending a lot of time over 10. Increasing the minimum, can often reduce the need for the device to go as high, as it's preventing move FLs and apneas.

When I see pressure graphs with a lot of large saw tooths, the solution is often increase minimum pressure.
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ChicagoGranny
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by ChicagoGranny » Tue Sep 30, 2025 2:57 pm

plaqueman wrote:
Tue Sep 30, 2025 12:28 pm
the pressure does give me a bit of a feeling of shortness of breath once I wake up
I am guessing the operative word is "feeling". The muscles of your lungs can easily exhale and inhale, but the brain is not yet accustomed to the CPAP process.

If you want, when you get that feeling, turn the machine off and let it restart at the ramp level. Check that you have AutoStart set to ON.
"It's not the number of breaths we take, it's the number of moments that take our breath away."

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plaqueman
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by plaqueman » Tue Sep 30, 2025 6:42 pm

Yes Granny, "feeling" is the operative word. By morning, it"feels" normal and feels hard to breath when I turn it off. The first night I put an oxygen meter on my finger to help convince my brain that I was not actually suffocating, and that helped.

All of this makes perfect sense; I will move the min. pressure up to 9 tonight and see if that helps reduce my apnea events. The Autostart is ineed on. Would it hurt anything to turn the EPR back up to 3, to help my exhale sensation? Or do you thing that would reduce the effectiveness?

Either way, I am looking forward to a restful night with an apnea index of 1 or less in the near future! It has already been such an improvement....I can't believe I survived as poorly as I must have been breathing at night.

Thanks!

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by ChicagoGranny » Wed Oct 01, 2025 10:47 am

plaqueman wrote:
Tue Sep 30, 2025 6:42 pm
Would it hurt anything to turn the EPR back up to 3, to help my exhale sensation?
Go ahead. I didn't expect you to turn it down. It shouldn't decrease the effectiveness. In many users with excess flow limitations, it reduces them.
"It's not the number of breaths we take, it's the number of moments that take our breath away."

Cuando cuentes cuentos, cuenta cuántas cuentos cuentas.

plaqueman
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by plaqueman » Sat Oct 04, 2025 4:03 pm

I have implemented the suggestions, and am getting used the pressure now, and feeling quite comfortable. It looks like perhaps I may need to bump the minimum pressure up even slightly more? Please take a look at my Sleep HQ and see if you agree. Also, thanks to your suggestions, the last two nights of sleep have been outstanding in terms of AHI, and were the most restful nights sleep I can recall in a long, long time. Thanks everyone, and please feel welcome to sugget more tweaks!

https://sleephq.com/public/teams/share_ ... e9a154cdfb

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by ChicagoGranny » Sun Oct 05, 2025 5:56 pm

The red line shows you don't spend much time at the minimum of 9.0, so you could increase the minimum to 10.0.

How do you feel about your EPR of 2? Any reasons you wouldn't want to use 3? You could try 3 in a future change.
"It's not the number of breaths we take, it's the number of moments that take our breath away."

Cuando cuentes cuentos, cuenta cuántas cuentos cuentas.

plaqueman
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by plaqueman » Sun Oct 05, 2025 7:08 pm

Granny,

I was suspect that raising it to 10 might be in the cards. I will give it a try. I cut the EPR back to 2 because I seem to notice pressure when I first start to exhale, then a drop off in pressure, and I find it a little bothersome. I get that is how it works, but it is less pronounced at 2 than 3.

Thanks so much!

plaqueman
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by plaqueman » Tue Oct 07, 2025 5:52 am

I have uploaded a few more nights of data, and the results of my therapy keep trending better, and it keeps feeling more and more comfortable.

One question: the Sleep HQ app always reports that I am using an f30i mask, and I have to go into the data and change it to the f20 airtouch that I am actually using. It seems to be picking this up from the Resmed 11 data, but I can't tell where. In my Resmed settings, it says "full face", but does not specify the exact type. Where is sleepHQ getting this errant data, and how do I go about fixing it?

Also, I noticed I had changed the device response to "soft" at some point. I changed it back to standard this morning and will see if I notice a difference.

Thanks!

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ChicagoGranny
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Re: A few newbie questions - with Data!

Post by ChicagoGranny » Tue Oct 07, 2025 10:59 am

plaqueman wrote:
Tue Oct 07, 2025 5:52 am
One question: the Sleep HQ app always reports that I am using an f30i mask, and I have to go into the data and change it to the f20 airtouch that I am actually using.
From AI:
SleepHQ learns which CPAP mask you're using because you manually select it within the SleepHQ application when adding or updating your device data. You choose your specific mask from a list of options or can add a new one if it isn't listed. SleepHQ doesn't detect the mask automatically; you must input this information to track its performance.
How to tell SleepHQ your mask:
Add your CPAP device: to your account if you haven't already.
Select the CPAP mask: you are currently using from the provided list.
Upload the data: from your CPAP machine's SD card or USB stick. SleepHQ will then associate your mask with that therapy session data.
By selecting your mask, you enable SleepHQ to track its specific performance alongside your therapy data, allowing you to see how different masks affect your treatment.
I haven't found how to make a mask change that will "stick".
"It's not the number of breaths we take, it's the number of moments that take our breath away."

Cuando cuentes cuentos, cuenta cuántas cuentos cuentas.